CHINA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LAW NEWSLETTER
Vol. 3, No. 5 - April 22, 2002
VISIT LLX AT INTA INTA 124th Annual Meeting 2002
May 18-22 - Washington, D.C. Lehman, Lee & Xu welcomes you to participate in the following: 2nd ANNUAL CHINA BRAND OWNERS BRUNCH - May 19, 11:00am at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill, Columbia Ballroom. Start the 124th Annual Meeting by experiencing Chinese hospitality at its finest. Hosted by Lehman, Lee & Xu and Tsingtao Beer, we hope that this year's brunch will once again provide for a relaxing forum to learn more about China brand owners and discuss changes in China's IP sector, including China's new Trademark Law. If you would like to attend, please send email to inta@chinalaw.cc or faxes to +8610 8532-1999. LEHMAN, LEE & XU/TSINGTAO BEER BOOTH - Exhibit Area, Booths 414 & 416. Visit with representatives of Lehman, Lee & Xu, Tsingtao Beer and other Chinese brand owners. On display will be general literature on China trademark law, Q&As on China trademark registration, IP enforcement strategies and more. Sorry, there will be no alcoholic beverages served at the booth. | |
TOPICS THIS ISSUE:
- Sina.com To Introduce AOL-style service
- China United Telecommunications Plans IPO
- Alcatel-China Telecom Deal
- Standardization Plans In The Mainland Broadcasting Market
- Sony Music Enters Joint Venture
- Internet As Medium Honoring The Dead
- RMB 800 Million Plan To Encourage IT Industry
- China And EU Promote Cooperation In IT Industry
Sina.com To Introduce AOL-style service
The largest web portal in China, Sina.com, announced that in the beginning of May, it will launch an Internet access service similar to the services offered by AOL in the US.
Although a specific launch date or rate structure has yet to be announced, the service will allow dial-up, broadband and wireless Internet access. The service, dubbed "Sina Online" will include personalized user content, such as e-mail, weather reports and games.
Jiang Xianbing of Sina Online said that the "bundled access" service will increase customer loyalty. Although Sina.com boasts of currently having over 30 million e-mail users, they are taking precautions against users choosing other portals.
Mr Jiang said that Sina Online will first be offered in large metropolitan centers such as Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan before being offered countrywide. He added that there will also be connections in Taiwan and the US. Sina Online will work together with telephone companies in order to collect payment and other providers to develop integrated services.
(Source: South China Morning Post)
China United Telecommunications Plans IPO
If China United Telecommunication's Initial Public Offering (IPO) goes through as planned, the listing will be the largest domestic listing in China and would mean that domestic investors will get a share in the fast growing telecommunications market.
A subsidiary, China Unicom, has already been listed in New York and Hong Kong. The expectation is for China United to start a CDMA-standard cellular network with the proceeds, parallel to its existing GSM network. It is hoped that China United will set up a wholly owned holding company to issue the A-shares, which will hold 77.5% of the stakes in China Unicom.
The value of the planned IPO is approximately US$ 1.9 billion and is a surprise seen as the market is not in a high phase and that China United has had problems with its new network. However, company officials are confident in the company's future performance in the domestic stock market.
(Source: Financial Times)
Alcatel-China Telecom Deal
Alcatel has signed a deal with China Telecom concerning the deployment of Alcatel's so-called Voice over the Internet Protocol (VoIP). The equipment will connect Shanghai and Beijing and will help China Telecom to upgrade its fixed line equipment.
Shanghai Bell, part of Alcatel's Shanghai network, will carry out the order. The new network generated by this deal will provide new services and applications. The so-called tandem/toll switches that will be used in the VoIP network are considered as essential solutions in the telecom network business. These types of switches are also one of the major products that Alcatel supplies to China.
(Sources: AFX European Focus, World Markets Research Center)
Standardization Plans In The Mainland Broadcasting Market
US based company DataDirect Networks is planning to standardize the mainland's broadcasting market on its storage networking system.
The Chinese partner Sobey Digital Technology, a systems integrator for video and broadcast sectors in China and one of the mainland's largest manufacturers of multimedia equipment, backs the company.
DataDirect Networks is the holder of the Silicon Storage Appliance Technology. This will allow Sobey Digital to create strong solutions based on the use of a so-called Storage Area Network (SAN) appliance that will lower costs, increase efficiency and allow for interconnection of different data storage devices.
(Source: South China Morning Post)
Need to File a Patent or Trademark in China? Contact LLX at mail@chinalaw.cc and click below to download a Power of Attorney: | | |
Sony Music Enters Joint Venture
Sony Music is the first foreign record company to set up a joint venture in China. The partner, Shanghai Epic Music Entertainment, will hold 51% of the company.
The joint venture has been granted a license to distribute Sony's works throughout China. Opening up the area of distribution of audio and visual products is one of China's WTO commitments. Compliance of the commitment can also be seen in the recent granting of a distribution license to Warner Music, which has yet to begin activities.
Some industry experts question the timing of entering the audio and visual market with the current rampant piracy in China. It is estimated that as much as 95% of the products in the Chinese music market are pirated. However, many large multinational companies see the long-term benefits as outweighing the short-term problems of fighting piracy.
(Source: South China Morning Post)
Internet As Medium Honoring The Dead
The so-called Tomb Sweeping Festival is an ancient Chinese tradition, during which deceased family members are honored by family members by cleaning the graves and the offering of gifts.
However, instead of in the past, when visitors visit the tombs physically, many are now choosing to "visit" their deceased family members' tombs via the internet. The online sites offer virtual flowers, candle sticks, joss sticks etc.
The websites also have "memorial halls" that you can click on to order flowers, etc. Many of these "halls" are for famous people, such as the fighter pilot Wang Wei, who died in a collision with a US plane off of Hainan Island one year ago. There are even fictional tombs for characters in famous novels.
Although there are arguments that honoring relatives in cyberspace is more environmentally friendly and a way for busy people to manage their time, many oppose the superficiality and insincerity of an online offering. The question is if the new "cyber honoring" can replace actual physical visits.
(Source: Agence France Presse)
RMB 800 Million Plan To Encourage IT Industry
The Ministry of Science and Technology announced on Friday an 800 million RMB (US$ 96.4 million) project that will provide a boost to the country's information technology industry.
Li Jian, director of the ministry's Department of High Technology Development and Industrialization, said the project will focus on setting up enterprises specializing in the design, manufacturing, and management of computers and other high-technology products. Relevant emerging software and consultancy services will also be included as pilot ventures, Li added.
Li said the project is part of an effort to make high technology more commonly used across the country. He also added that selected research institutes will conduct research in computer-aided design, management of enterprises' resources, manufacturing systems, database management, computerized processing equipment, enterprise integral platforms and intranet management.
(Source: Xinhuanet)
China And EU Promote Cooperation In IT Industry
As part of wide-ranging talks on information technology, China and the European Union (EU) are discussing cooperation possibilities on digitalizing the 2008 Olympics.
Other projects being considered for cooperation include integrated circuits, high performance computer grids, open source software, mobile communications and smart cards. Shi Dinghuan, spokesman and secretary general of the Ministry of Science and Technology, said that the two sides would hold talks on the information technology industry's strategy, policies and regulations, in order to encourage cooperation in high technology start-ups and China-EU joint research and development centers.
Since the 1980s, Shi said, the two sides have successfully implemented numerous cooperation projects and have jointly organized seminars and conferences.
Shi said that the information and telecommunications industry has become one of the largest areas of investment between the European Union and China. Due to the adoption of the China-EU science and technology cooperation agreement, the two sides have agreed to make cooperation in the field of information technology a priority.
China joined the EU's Framework Program on research, technological development and demonstration in 1999. Meanwhile, China has strengthened their science and technology cooperation ties with EU members such as Germany, France and Sweden.
(Source: Xinhua)
China ISP/Portal For Sale Interested parties should write care of LLX at mail@chinalaw.cc. |
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